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ExpectMore.govExpectMore.gov home pageEXPECT FEDERAL PROGRAMS TO PERFORM WELL, AND BETTER EVERY YEAR.
 
Program Assessment

Program

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National Park Service - Heritage Partnership

This program aims to help local groups conserve nationally important landscapes and their natural, recreational, and historic resources in National Heritage Areas (NHAs). The National Park Service (NPS) provides limited grants and technical assistance to Congressionally designated NHAs managed by State or local entities.

Rating

What This Rating Means

NOT PERFORMING
Results Not Demonstrated

A rating of Results Not Demonstrated (RND) indicates that a program has not been able to develop acceptable performance goals or collect data to determine whether it is performing.
  • The Heritage Area program lacks a systematic process to identify and designate NHAs. Without authorizing legislation to establish criteria and a process for designation, NHAs could be established without the nationally important resources or public support necessary to be successful.
  • Funding for individual areas is not allocated through a competitive process. This limits the program's ability to target funds for high priorities or reward performance.
  • The program has no national performance measures and has limited means to hold management entities accountable for the use of Federal funds. For example, there are few clear requirements as a condition for receiving Federal funds.

Improvement Plan

About Improvement Plans

We are taking the following actions to improve the performance of the program:

  • Working with Congress to establish criteria and require a feasibility study to evaluate and designate NHAs.
  • Moving toward a competitive process for allocating grant funds that considers performance and need, as well as when the area is expected to become self-sufficient.
  • Developing and implementing a set of consistent national performance measures to hold management entities accountable for performance.

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